This Brown Butter Mochi Banana Bread is what happens when ripe bananas, nutty brown butter, and the chewy magic of Hawaiian-style butter mochi come together in one pan. The brown butter adds a rich, toffee-like warmth that melts right into the sweet banana flavor, while the glutinous rice flour gives it that soft, springy, satisfyingly squishy texture we love in mochi. With its golden, lightly caramelized top and custardy center, it’s banana bread – reimagined with a chewy Hawaiian twist!
A classic banana bread with brown butter has always been one of my favorite comfort bakes, given that you can always find brown bananas on my counter! After combining cornbread and mochi in these mochi cornbread muffins, I thought I was so ahead of my time to combine banana bread with chewy Hawaiian butter mochi. Turns out all the smart people before me have already done it. 😂
I found a recipe for mochi banana bread in a vintage Hawaiian dessert cookbook I own, but that one uses Bisquick in the batter. I tested a batch with some all-purpose flour mixed in but I didn’t quite like the texture and it was too dry – my wet/dry ratio was off admittedly. But once I started testing with 100% glutinuous rice flour, the texture was much more satisfying!
Key ingredient
You’ll need 9 ingredients to make this super squishy mochi banana bread, all the same ingredients as a regular banana bread except for the flour.
Mochiko or sweet rice/glutinous rice flour is the absolute key ingredient here. Like with all of my mochi recipes, you have to start with sweet rice flour. No, you cannot substitute flour, or gluten free flour, not even rice flour. You have to use either Mochiko which is a Japanese sweet rice flour made from short grain glutinous rice, or the Vietnamese/Thai brand sweet rice flour in a plastic bag. This is what gives this bread its distinct chewy texture.
It’s so simple to make
The most prep work you’ll need to do for this mochi banana bread is browning the butter ahead of time. Other than that, the whole thing can be made in just one bowl for minimal clean up. Skip to the recipe card if you’d rather.
- About half an hour before you’re ready to mix the batter, brown the butter and let it cool down. If you’re short on time, it doesn’t need to cool completely. Slightly warm butter is ok too.
- You’ll want to mash your bananas in a large mixing bowl. Depending on the size of your bananas, you’ll need between 2 and 3 bananas. I know it’s kind of a pain to have bits and pieces of leftover bananas but you don’t want to add too much, making your mochi banana bread mushy. I like to use a scale and add the bananas directly into the bowl, then mash with a potato masher. This way, there is no need for extra measuring cups and utensils.
- Now add the rest of the wet ingredients to the mashed bananas. If you’re using slightly warm brown butter, I would beat the eggs with the mashed bananas first, then slowly pour in the warm brown butter while stirring to minimize any chance of the eggs curdling.
- Stir in the brown sugar first before you add the remaining dry ingredients.
- You can sift the dry ingredients directly into the wet ingredients, but add the kosher salt separately since the granules are too large to pass through the sieve. Go to town stirring this batter until smooth, it is gluten free so you don’t have to worry about having too much gluten development drying out the bread.
- It’s game time at last! Transfer your batter to a buttered and lined loaf pan and bake until golden and cooked through.
- Finally, it will be difficult, but don’t cut into the bread right away. Let it finish baking from the residual heat and cool down on a wire rack to a reasonable temperature, if not completely, before you tuck in. Your bread will look puffy when it comes out of the oven and will deflate as it cools, this is completely normal. Enjoy!
Hungry for more?
Mochi Banana Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 oz (113 g) unsalted butter, brown
- 1 ⅓ cup (320 g) mashed bananas
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (150 g) brown sugar
- 1 ⅓ cup (209 g) mochiko or sweet rice flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Extra melted butter for pan
Instructions
- Brown the butter – Place the butter in a light colored saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, it will become foamy. When the foam subsides, you will see clear bubbles, start whisking continuously at this point to keep the milk solids from burning. When the butter is caramel in color and smells nutty, about 8 to 9 minutes, remove from heat and set aside to cool down.4 oz unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Prepare the baking pan – Brush a loaf pan generously with melted butter, line it with a longer piece of parchment paper leaving the excess hanging over the sides. Brush the top of the parchment paper with more melted butter.
- Prepare wet ingredients – Mash the bananas with a potato masher in a large mixing bowl. Add cooled brown butter, egg and vanilla. Beat with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Add brown sugar and beat again until completely incorporated.1 ⅓ cup mashed bananas, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¾ cup brown sugar
- Add dry ingredients – Sift sweet rice flour, baking powder and baking soda directly into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Sprinkle kosher salt on top. Mix until completely incorporated and smooth. This batter is gluten free so you don’t have to worry about overmixing.1 ⅓ cup mochiko or sweet rice flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Bake – Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the mochi banana bread comes out clean.
- Cool – Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. To remove banana bread from the pan, simply lift it out using the excess parchment paper as handles.
Notes
- Storage: You can store leftover mochi banana at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the fridge for up to a week.
- Reheating: It is the nature of butter mochi to harden, especially if refrigerated. You can warm these up in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, covered with a damp towel or plastic wrap, to soften them. They’ll taste like freshly baked.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love banana bread, this recipe sounds really good. Since I have never looked for it, should I be able to find sweet rice flour at a regular grocery store, or where else?
I usually get it at Asian supermarket. Some regular grocery store may carry it in the international food aisle. I just did a quick google search and it looks like Vons and Albertsons carry them in my area. Try those if they are near you, if not try Hmart, Tokyo Central, 99 Ranch Markets, those should all carry it.